Cap and capped container

ABSTRACT

To provide a cap and a capped container that prevent a user from feeling a sense of discomfort about a torque when the cap is opened while reliably preventing the inversion of a flap when the cap is opened. Provided is a cap ( 10 ) having a TE band ( 30 ), with this TE band ( 30 ) having a flap ( 32 ), the flap ( 32 ) has a flange engaging part ( 32   b ) and an attitude maintaining piece ( 32   c ), and an inner peripheral wall of the band body part ( 31 ) has a release part ( 22   c ) that forms a gap between an outer peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece ( 32   c ) and the inner peripheral wall of the band body part ( 31 ) when the cap is attached to the container. A circumferential width of the attitude maintaining piece ( 32   c ) is formed to be narrower than a circumferential width of a flap body ( 32   a ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a container cap having a TE band connected to the lower end of a cap body via a weakening part and a capped container.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, caps having a TE band (Tamper Evident band) connected to the lower end of a cap body via a weakening part have been adopted in a wide range of fields such as beverage containers in order to prevent the caps from being falsely opened in a circulation process or the like.

As one of such caps having a TE band, a cap 110 having a TE band 130 connected to the lower end of a cap body 120 via a weakening part 140 as shown in FIG. 4 has been conventionally known in which a flap 132 folded back toward the inner peripheral side of the TE band 130 is connected consecutively to the lower end of the TE band 130, whereby the flap 132 engages with the lower side of a container flange 153 to break the weakening part 140 when the cap 110 is rotated and moved upward with respect to a container 150 during its opening.

In the cap 110, however, the flap 132 formed at the lower end of the TE band 130 is folded back upward on the inner peripheral side of the TE band 130. Therefore, when the outer diameter of a container mouth cylindrical part 151 below the container flange 153 is small, the flap 132 falls down toward the side of the container mouth cylindrical part 151 due to its elasticity to increase an angle α between the flap 132 and the TE band 130. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, there is a case that, when the cap is opened, the flap 132 elastically deforms and falls downward when engaging with the container flange 153 whereby the container flange 153 is inverted. When the flap 132 is inverted like this, the TE band 130 comes off the container mouth cylindrical part 151 without breaking the weakening part 140. As a result, the false opening of the cap becomes unobvious.

Accordingly, as a cap 110 having the function of preventing the inversion of a flap 132, there has been proposed one in which the inner peripheral wall of the flap 132 has a flange engaging part 132 b capable of engaging with the lower side of a container flange 153 and an angle α between the flap 132 and a TE band 130 is kept with an attitude maintaining piece 132 c serving as the tip end part of the flap 132 held between the outer peripheral wall of the container flange 153 and the inner peripheral wall of the TE band 130 as shown in FIG. 6 (see Patent Literature 1).

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: Japanese Examined Utility Model Application Publication No. H05-13735

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

In the cap 110 described in Patent Literature 1, however, the attitude maintaining piece 132 c is held between the outer peripheral wall of the container flange 153 and the inner peripheral wall of the TE band 130, and the outer peripheral side of the attitude maintaining piece 132 c is supported by the TE band 130. Therefore, the contact pressure between the inner peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece 132 c and the outer peripheral wall of the container flange 153 increases, and the friction between the inner peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece 132 c and the outer peripheral wall of the container flange 153 increases when the cap 110 is rotated with respect to a container 150.

As a result, a so-called first torque required to start the rotation of the cap 110 when the cap is opened becomes greater compared with the normal cap 110 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, i.e., the normal cap 110 in which an attitude maintaining piece 132 c or the like is not interposed between the inner peripheral wall of the TE band 130 and the outer peripheral wall of the container flange 153, which causes a problem that a user feels a sense of discomfort about a torque when the cap is opened.

The above problem becomes remarkable particularly when manufacturing errors occur in respective dimensions such as the thickness dimension of the flap 132, the outer diameter dimension of the container flange 153, and the inner diameter dimension of the TE band 130.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems and has an object of providing a cap and a capped container that prevent a user from feeling a sense of discomfort about a torque when the cap is opened while reliably preventing the inversion of a flap when the cap is opened.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a cap having a cap body and a TE band connected to a lower end of the cap body via a weakening part, wherein the TE band has an annular band body part connected to the lower end of the cap body and a flap provided consecutively to a lower end of the band body part and folded back toward an inner peripheral side of the band body part, the flap has a flap body provided consecutively to the lower end of the band body part, a flange engaging part formed on an inner peripheral side of the flap body and capable of engaging with a lower side of a container flange when the cap is attached to a container, and an attitude maintaining piece formed on an upper end side of the flap body and arranged on an outer peripheral side of the container flange when the cap is attached to the container, and an inner peripheral wall of the band body part has a release part that forms a gap between an outer peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece and the inner peripheral wall of the band body part when the cap is attached to the container, and a circumferential width of the attitude maintaining piece is formed to be narrower than a circumferential width of the flap body.

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a capped container having the cap and a container, wherein the container has a container mouth cylindrical part, a container-side thread part formed on an outer periphery of the container mouth cylindrical part, and the container flange formed on the outer periphery of the container mouth cylindrical part below the container-side thread part, and a gap is formed between the outer peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece and the inner peripheral wall of the band body part when the cap is attached to the container.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to one aspect of the present invention, the inner peripheral wall of the band body part of a TE band has a release part that forms the gap between the outer peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece of a flap arranged on the outer peripheral side of a container flange when a cap is attached to a container and the inner peripheral wall of the band body part. Thus, since the gap is formed between the outer peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece and the inner peripheral wall of the band body part in a state in which the cap is attached to the container, it becomes possible to prevent the outer peripheral side of the attitude maintaining piece from being supported by the band body part and fold the attitude maintaining piece to its outer peripheral side. Therefore, the contact pressure between the inner peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece and the outer peripheral wall of the container flange can be prevented from increasing, and the friction between the inner peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece and the outer peripheral wall of the container flange can be prevented from increasing when the cap is rotated with respect to the container. Thus, the angle between the flap and the TE band is kept by the contact between the attitude maintaining piece and the container flange, and a user can be prevented from feeling a sense of discomfort about a torque when the cap is opened, while the inversion of the flap when the cap is opened is reliably prevented.

In addition, a circumferential width of the attitude maintaining piece is formed to be narrower than a circumferential width of the flap body. Thus, compared with a case in which the attitude maintaining piece is formed to have the same width as the circumferential width of the flap body, the friction between the inner peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece of the flap and the outer peripheral wall of the container flange can be further reduced besides a reduction in material costs. As a result, a torque required to open the cap can be made closer to a torque required in a normal cap.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the flange engaging part and the attitude maintaining piece are formed so as not to overlap each other in the cap circumferential direction. Thus, the moldability of the cap by injection molding, particularly the moldability of the flaps can be improved.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the attitude maintaining piece is formed at each of both ends in a circumferential direction of the flap body. Thus, the friction between the inner peripheral walls of the attitude maintaining pieces and the outer peripheral wall of the container flange can be reduced, while the angel between the flap and the TE band is reliably kept by the attitude maintaining pieces formed at both the ends.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a thickness of the attitude maintaining piece is formed to be thinner than a thickness of the flap body at the thinnest spot thereof. Thus, the flexibility of the attitude maintaining piece is improved, and the attitude maintaining piece is easily folded toward its outer peripheral side when the cap is opened. Therefore, the friction between the inner peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece of the flap and the outer peripheral wall of the container flange can be remarkably reduced, while the engagement between the container flange and a flange engaging part is satisfactorily secured.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a cap according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view partially showing a state before the cap shown in FIG. 1 is opened.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view partially showing a state after the cap shown in FIG. 1 is opened.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view partially showing a state before a conventional cap is opened.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view partially showing a state after the conventional cap is opened.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing another conventional cap.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   -   10 Cap     -   20 Cap body     -   21 Upper surface wall     -   21 a Inner ring     -   21 b Outer ring     -   22 Skirt wall     -   22 a Knurl part     -   22 b Cap-side thread part     -   22 c Release part     -   30 TE band     -   31 Band body part     -   31 a Release part     -   32 Flap     -   32 a Flap body     -   32 b Flange engaging part     -   32 c Attitude maintaining piece     -   40 Weakening part     -   50 Container     -   51 Container mouth cylindrical part     -   52 Container-side thread part     -   53 Container flange

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a cap 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

First, the cap 10 is made of a synthetic resin or the like and has, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cap body 20 and a TE band 30 connected to the lower end of the cap body 20 via a weakening part 40.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cap body 20 has a discoid upper surface wall 21 and a cylindrical skirt wall 22 suspending from the outer peripheral edge of the upper surface wall 21.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper surface wall 21 has an inner ring 21 a protruding downward from the lower surface of the upper surface wall 21 and an outer ring 21 b protruding downward from the lower surface of the upper surface wall 21 on the outer peripheral side of the inner ring 21 a. Ina state in which the cap 10 is attached to a container 50, the inner ring 21 a and the outer ring 21 b adhere closely to the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side of a container mouth cylindrical part 51, respectively.

In addition, the outer peripheral wall of the skirt wall 22 has knurl parts 22 a, and the inner peripheral wall of the skirt wall 22 has cap-side thread parts 22 b that are to threadedly engage with container-side thread parts 52 formed on the outer peripheral wall of the container mouth cylindrical part 51 of the container 50.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the weakening part 40 is a breakable annular part connecting the lower end of the skirt wall 22 of the cap body 20 and the upper end of a band body part 31 of the TE band 30 to each other. In the embodiment, the weakening part 40 is constituted of a plurality of bridges and slits alternately formed in a cap circumferential direction. Note that the specific mode of the weakening part 40 is not particularly limited so long as the weakening part 40 is provided to be breakable.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the TE band 30 has the annular band body part 31 and flaps 32 connected consecutively to the lower end of the band body part 31 and folded back upward on the inner peripheral side of the band body part 31. The plurality of flaps 32 is formed along the cap circumferential direction with an interval placed therebetween.

As shown in FIG. 2, the band body part 31 is formed in a tapered shape made thicker toward the lower end of its inner peripheral side, and the folded starting points between the band body part 31 and the flaps 32 are formed to be positioned closer to the inner peripheral side than the inner peripheral surface on the upper end side of the band body part 31. Thus, since it is possible to cause the flaps 32 to contact a container flange 53 with their attitude held in a vertical direction when the cap is attached, the TE band 30 can be prevented from coming off when the cap is opened.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the flaps 32 has a flap body 32 a connected consecutively to the lower end of the band body part 31, a flange engaging part 32 b formed to protrude from the inner peripheral wall of the flap body 32 a and capable of engaging with the lower side of the container flange (coupler) 53 formed on the outer periphery of the container mouth cylindrical part 51 below the container-side thread parts 52 in a state in which the cap 10 is attached to the container 50, and a plurality of attitude maintaining pieces 32 c formed to protrude from the upper end of the flap body 32 a and arranged on the outer peripheral side of the container flange 53 in a state in which the cap 10 is attached to the container 50.

As shown in FIG. 2, the flap bodies 32 a are formed in a tapered shape made thinner toward the lower end of their inner peripheral side, whereby the folding resistance of the flaps 32 can be reduced when the cap is attached.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, vertical gaps are formed between the flange engaging parts 32 b and the container flange 53 in a state in which the cap 10 is attached to the container 50.

The vertical gaps are formed to have such a size that, in the process of opening the cap, the upper surfaces of the flange engaging parts 32 b engage with the lower surface of the container flange 53 to break the weakening part 40 before the close adhesion state between the inner ring 21 a and the outer ring 21 b and the container mouth cylindrical part 51 is cancelled.

As shown in FIG. 1, the flange engaging parts 32 b are formed at the central parts of the flap bodies 32 a in the cap circumferential direction, and the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c are formed at both ends of the flap bodies 32 a in the cap circumferential direction.

In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper surfaces of the flange engaging parts 32 b are formed to be substantially horizontal, and the flange engaging parts 32 b are formed in a tapered shape made thinner toward the lower end of their inner peripheral side (i.e., a substantially triangle of which the cross-sectional shape is made thinner downward).

Note that the specific shape of the flange engaging parts 32 b is not limited to the above one. However, in consideration of a likelihood that the TE band 30 could come off when the cap is opened or the like, it is preferable to form the upper surfaces of the flange engaging parts 32 b to be substantially horizontal and cause the lower surface of the container flange 53 and the upper surfaces of the flange engaging parts 32 b to contact each other in a horizontal position as shown in FIG. 3.

In addition, the flange engaging parts 32 b and the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c are formed so as not to overlap each other in the cap circumferential direction, whereby the moldability of the cap 10 by injection molding, particularly the moldability of the flaps 32 can be improved.

Moreover, the widths of the flange engaging parts 32 b and the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c in the cap circumferential direction are formed to be narrower than the circumferential width of the flap bodies 32 a.

Further, the thickness of the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c in a cap radial direction is formed to be thinner than the thickness at the thinnest spots of the flap bodies 32 a.

Note that in the embodiment, the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c are formed to have a rectangular cross section as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, the specific mode of the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c is not limited to this. For example, the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c may be formed to have a triangular or arc-shaped cross section, or the inner peripheral surfaces of the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c contacting the container flange 53 may be subjected to a process for reducing resistance due to contact such as a satin process.

As shown in FIG. 2, concave release parts 22 c and 31 a forming the gaps between the outer peripheral walls of the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c and the inner peripheral wall of the band body part 31 are formed on the upper end side of the inner peripheral wall of the band body part 31 and lower end side of the inner peripheral wall of the skirt wall 22, respectively, in a state in which the cap 10 is attached to the container 50. By the release parts 22 c and 31 a, the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c can be folded toward the outer peripheral side.

Note that the specific modes of the release parts 22 c and 31 a are not particularly limited so long as the release parts 22 c and 31 a form the gaps between the outer peripheral walls of the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c and the inner peripheral wall of the band body part 31 in a state in which the cap 10 is attached to the container 50.

In addition, when the length of the attitude maintaining pieces 32 c is short, only the release part 31 a may be formed on the upper end side of the inner peripheral wall of the band body part 31 without forming the release part 22 c on the lower end side of the inner peripheral wall of the skirt wall 22.

The embodiment of the present invention is described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various design modifications are made possible without departing from the present invention described in claims.

For example, the specific arrangements, numbers, and dimensions of the flange engaging parts and the attitude maintaining pieces are not particularly limited. For example, the widths of the flange engaging parts and the attitude maintaining pieces in the cap circumferential direction may be set to be the same as the width of the flap bodies in the circumferential direction. In addition, the flange engaging parts may be formed at two separated spots of the flap bodies, or the attitude maintaining pieces may be formed at three separated spots of the flap bodies.

Moreover, it is also possible to additionally form annular connection parts, which are integrated with the outer peripheral sides of the respective attitude maintaining pieces and connect the plurality of attitude maintaining pieces arranged in the cap circumferential direction to each other, in the cap circumferential direction. 

1. A cap having a cap body and a TE band connected to a lower end of the cap body via a weakening part, wherein the TE band has an annular band body part connected to the lower end of the cap body and a flap provided consecutively to a lower end of the band body part and folded back toward an inner peripheral side of the band body part, the flap has a flap body provided consecutively to the lower end of the band body part, a flange engaging part formed on an inner peripheral side of the flap body and capable of engaging with a lower side of a container flange when the cap is attached to a container, and an attitude maintaining piece formed on an upper end side of the flap body and arranged on an outer peripheral side of the container flange when the cap is attached to the container, an inner peripheral wall of the band body part has a release part that forms a gap between an outer peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece and the inner peripheral wall of the band body part when the cap is attached to the container, and a circumferential width of the attitude maintaining piece is formed to be narrower than a circumferential width of the flap body.
 2. The cap according to claim 1, wherein the flange engaging part and the attitude maintaining piece are formed so as not to overlap each other in the cap circumferential direction.
 3. The cap according to claim 2, wherein the attitude maintaining piece is formed at each of both ends in a circumferential direction of the flap body.
 4. The cap according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the attitude maintaining piece is formed to be thinner than a thickness of the flap body at the thinnest spot thereof.
 5. A capped container having the cap according to claim 1 and a container, wherein the container has a container mouth cylindrical part, a container-side thread part formed on an outer periphery of the container mouth cylindrical part, and the container flange formed on the outer periphery of the container mouth cylindrical part below the container-side thread part, and a gap is formed between the outer peripheral wall of the attitude maintaining piece and the inner peripheral wall of the band body part when the cap is attached to the container. 